For the life of me, I cannot understand Mel's comments, his Father's very public anti-Jewish pronouncements or even those of folks like Pat Buchanan, etc. It is all illogical and very upsetting.
I know. One lesson I am reminded of in all this, is that we don't really know people like Mel Gibson. We think we know them, they have people who are paid to craft their public personas, but in the end we don't really know them and we best not imbue them with the heroic qualities of the characters they play or portray.
Some of these people grew up believing that Judaism should be held in contempt; that the Jews are no longer God's Chosen People; that the Jews killed Jesus, etc., etc. When the Vatican finally wised up and stopped teaching that stuff, they could not turn on the "off" switch. I think Gibson's dad and Pat Buchanan are in that group. They absorbed that awful preachy screachy anti-Semitism from people like Father Coughlin and it stayed with them.
When this episode happened with Mel, I immediately thought of Pat Buchanan. He's got the same hatred in him. I agree, it is upsetting. I have enjoyed Mel Gibson's work. He seems like an intelligent guy but from some of his interviews he doesn't come across as a clear thinker.